Friday, May 15, 2026: Cynthia Linville's "Scrapbook"

 Scrapbook

She sees sunlight, so quiet

she can almost hear the dust.

Heat wears away the edges,

in life, in photographs.

These memories are old

like someone else’s shoes –

rigid where they should bend

pliant where they should be tough.

She didn’t know how much she wanted

until she felt ready to jump in.

By then the zeotrope had blurred –

scenes spun past too fast.

Now she sees how quickly opportunities collapse.

To want one thing is

to want a thousand things.

The real trick is to want today’s offerings.

She places the book back up

on its high dusty shelf

slips on her shoes and gloves

and steps out to tend her roses.

© Cynthia Linville

Bio: Cynthia Linville’s work has appeared in many publications and several anthologies. Her two books of collected poems, The Lost Thing and Out of Reach, were published by Cold River Press. Her poems have been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and two Best of the Net awards. Linville has received three mini-grants from Poets & Writers to perform in collaboration with musicians. She invented a poetic form dubbed the Linvillanelle which can be viewed here:

https://webpages.csus.edu/~sac16141/TheLinvillanelle.pdf

Cynthia is also a photographer whose work has appeared in People's Tribune, Sacramento News & Review, Capital Public Radio website, WTF, and more. You can see more of her work at CynthiaLinville.com.

Friday, May 1, 2026: Lynne Bronstein's "Tangelo Winter"

Tangelo Winter

There are still tangelos on the tree, at this late date in February. Some soft large

ones have fallen on the ground; some that are high in the tree will be eaten by

racoons. I have gathered many of these fruits, pale and deep orange, some easy to

peel, some with few seeds, and some so seedy they might as well be cheremoyas. I

am thankful for the free fruit and for the mixture of sun and rain that brought on

such a rich harvest this year. It may be the most memorable thing about this winter,

which has been full of turbulence in the world, and which has brought some sorrow

to this house. I longed for treats with no trouble, fruit that was sweet with no

annoying seeds, even as I knew that the knobby seeds, like the more annoying and

painful aspects of life, are what bring on another season of fruit for us to eventually

enjoy.

Tangelo winter

Ripe rich fruit for the picking

Reward not asked for.

© Lynne Bronstein

Bio: Lynne Bronstein is the author of Nasty Girls (Four Feathers Press) and four

other books of poetry. She has been published in magazines ranging from Playgirl

to Chiron Review, from Lummox to anthologies in England, Ireland, Israel,

Canada, and India. Her short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies

and has been read on National Public Radio. She also writes a column on Facebook

and Substack called Show Biz Cats.